Ontario Tech Software Engineering students Emily Lai and Natasha Naorem (fourth and fifth from left) were among the award recipients at the 2024 Ontario Engineering Competition (held at Queen's University in Kingston from January 26 to 28).
Natasha Naorem and Emily Lai, third-year Software Engineering students in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Ontario Tech University, are showing they not only have the engineering expertise, but also the communications skills to present and explain complex technical engineering projects.
Naorem and Lai recently achieved major success at a January provincial engineering competition. By finishing ahead of peers from other universities, they earned the right to further showcase their knowledge on the national stage.
Every year, universities across Canada host Internal Engineering Competitions (IEC) at their schools, where winners can earn the opportunity to progress to regional and national competitions. Back on November 5, 2023, Naorem and Lai won the Engineering Communications category of Ontario Tech's IEC, organized by the IEC Committee of the Engineering Students' Society. That triumph advanced them to the regional Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC) hosted by Queen's University in Kingston.
The OEC included 16 post-secondary institutions, 300 competitors, and nine categories. Naorem and Lai's category, Engineering Communications, challenged them to present and communicate a technical engineering topic to a non-technical audience, highlighting the importance of effective communication in engineering projects.
Naorem and Lai chose to compete in the communications category to develop their presentation skills and to emphasize the importance of effective communication in engineering projects. They noted that while engineers generally focus on sharing the technical aspects of their work, projects are only successful when engineers ensure all audiences fully understand the objectives.
This victory not only marks a personal milestone for the students, but also brings recognition to Ontario Tech: they are the first winners from the university in many years to advance to the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC). This year's CEC will be held in Calgary from March 1 to 3.
To follow Naorem and Lai's journey to CEC, visit the Ontario Tech Engineering Students' Society Instagram account, @ot_engsoc. Stay tuned for updates on their progress and support them as they represent Ontario Tech on the national stage.
Quotes
"Communication is important because engineering plays an important role in our daily lives; everything around us is engineered. However, a successful project relies on many other teams and roles along with engineers. Ensuring a project is successful by ensuring everyone is on the same page is a challenge. Many engineers don't realize just how important a skill it is."
- Emily Lai, third-year Software Engineering student
"It is an honour to receive first place in such a large category. We're looking forward to what we can do at CEC and hope our success encourages other Engineering students at Ontario Tech to take their chances and put themselves out there at IEC next year."
- Natasha Naorem, third-year Software Engineering student
